Less than a week after a prominent Indian Punjabi preacher was sentenced to life in prison for rape, another Christian pastor in Punjab has been accused of raping a young woman and forcing her to undergo a botched abortion that allegedly led to her death, according to Indian media reports.
On March 28, Pastor Bajinder Singh, a self-styled Christian preacher popularly known as the “Yeshu Yeshu prophet,” was found guilty in a 2018 rape case. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on April 1.
The woman had accused Singh of raping her at his home in the northern Indian state of Punjab, recording the act, and later using the video to blackmail her, Indian media reported.
Singh has also been accused of sexual assault by at least two other women. In February, police opened an investigation after a former disciple accused him of assault. Days later, Punjab police registered a third case against Singh for allegedly assaulting another woman after a prayer session. He has denied both allegations.
His churches have also faced financial scrutiny. In January last year, some of them were investigated by India’s income-tax department.
Born in Haryana state into a Hindu family, Singh reportedly converted to Christianity about 15 years ago while in prison. Media reports said he was incarcerated in connection with a murder case, though he has not publicly commented on it.
On his website, Singh claims that “evil forces” had pushed him toward a life of crime before someone gave him a Bible and he found God. The site refers to him as a “prophet” and advertises “services” including healing people with holy oil and water.
Due to the various criminal cases against him, Singh is widely described as a controversial figure. Yet, his supporters defend him, and Singh has previously attributed some of the negative press to “schemes” and “plots” by rival pastors.
Singh, who has millions of followers, rose to fame through his evangelist-style preaching and events, where he is seen “healing” people suffering from serious illnesses by placing his hands on them.
His Church of Glory and Wisdom — one of the largest private churches in Punjab — counts some Bollywood stars among its followers and claims to have branches in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
Singh also has a significant social media presence, with more than three million YouTube subscribers.
On April 5, Indian news outlet Mint reported that another pastor, Jashan Gill, has been accused of raping a 22-year-old woman in 2023. The woman became pregnant and was allegedly forced to undergo an abortion, which was performed carelessly and led to her death, according to the report.
Quoting the victim’s father, the outlet said he had petitioned the high court for a formal inquiry after Punjab police failed to act on his complaint.
According to the report, the victim was a student from Abul Khair village in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district. The father claimed his daughter and other family members used to attend a church in the village, where Gill misled her and allegedly raped her.
“The abortion was performed carelessly, after which she got an infection… My daughter complained of stomach pain and was admitted to the hospital… Later, after an ultrasound, we came to know that my daughter had an abortion, and then she was taken to Amritsar, where she died during treatment,” the report quoted the victim’s father as saying.
The father further alleged that following the rape, he was forced to leave the village due to threats from the pastor. He also claimed police had not arrested Pastor Gill because he had bribed them to suppress the case.
